With the fluid landscape of product innovation, scientific advancement, and boundless consumer trends, it should come as no surprise that a Batteries Plus Bulbs store offers more than 60,000 lighting and battery products to meet the demands of retail and business customers. We are proud to have delivered more than 80 million battery and light bulb solutions to our customers in 2015, through our expanding store locations across the U.S. Thank you to all who have chosen to Trust the Plus.

As we move into 2016, we wanted to take a look back at 2015 and analyze some of the top trends and innovations in lighting and batteries, as well as field our predictions as to what 2016 holds in store for consumers, in relation to our industries.

LIGHTING

Smart Lighting

Connected lighting became a hot topic of discussion in 2015. With its initial introduction late in 2014, multiple manufacturers continued innovating in this space, offering bulbs with abundant connectivity functions. Some companies introduced smart bulbs that change color based on preset times or user mood. Leveraging advanced control settings within “If This Then That” (IFTTT) architecture, users can now manipulate and control smart bulbs more than ever before.

INTO 2016: with the smart home acquiring market traction and widely adopted standards, we expect smart lighting to continue gaining steam. Lighting is a key to the smart home, alongside thermostats, door locks, garage doors, and more. However, consumers are in need of better education to make the right purchasing decision for their smart home, since not all smart bulbs are compatible with their current solutions. This advanced technology will require some expert assistance in the sales process.

LEDs Thrive

LED technology has made huge leaps in the last year, with more manufacturers offering LED colors in softer hues. When LEDs were first introduced, consumers were slow to adopt, likely because of lack of awareness and sharp/cold hues. Today, with the introduction of white light LEDs in a range of softer colors, including hues like “soft white” or “warm white,” consumers have begun to make the transition to the more energy efficient and longer-lasting LED lights.

INTO 2016: as has been the topic of conversation for the past several years, the transition away from incandescent and halogen technology to LED will continue to gain even stronger momentum. Prices have rapidly decreased on key general purpose replacement lamps and in the future, we should start to see greater stability in costs. With more affordability, coupled with a huge assortment and expert advice from a local expert at Batteries Plus Bulbs, we anticipate consumers to confidently make the conversion to LED in 2016.

LED Fixtures

2015 introduced the full LED fixture, which is starting to gain momentum in both new construction and commercial replacement markets. Rather than featuring a replaceable light bulb, these fixtures are fully integrated and can be hot swapped into existing systems, as an upgrade.

INTO 2016: these fixtures will prove to be an excellent purchase option, featuring very long lives—sometimes upwards of 100,000 hours. Key areas to look for in LED Fixture momentum gains are troffer lights (typical fluorescent lights in every office and school), wall packs (safety/security lighting on walls of buildings) and high bay replacements, often seen in warehousing and manufacturing.

BATTERIES

Automotive Batteries Doing More

In 2015, cars coming off assembly lines were equipped with even more features, including complex GPS systems, larger stereos and rear-view cameras. As a result, car batteries were met with added power requirements, which required more performance capabilities than just starting power.

INTO 2016: as more in-vehicle features and add-ons become available and incorporated into cars, we predict consumers will look to upgrade their vehicle’s batteries to something more robust, such as AGM to withstand these increasing power demands.

Embedded Batteries and Shrinking Battery Size

This past year, the consumer electronics industry labored to produce new, sleeker models of past generation devices as a means to deliver innovation. As a result of slimmed-down devices, manufacturers made sacrifices when it came to the original equipment (OE) battery life. With consumer electronics’ usage continuing to skyrocket, the OE batteries were unable to keep up with user habits. Additionally, as manufacturers continued to embed their batteries into devices in such a way that consumers were unable to easily change them, we saw an increase in battery add-on products, such as rechargeable cases for smartphones. Amazingly, a survey we performed indicated that 61% of Americans do not realize that embedded batteries can be replaced, by a qualified technician.

INTO 2016: we expect to see the embedded battery trend continue to expand as product manufacturers look to make their electronics more aesthetically appealing to their customer base. In turn, repairing devices and replacing batteries to achieve optimum run time will be difficult without expert assistance from companies such as Batteries Plus Bulbs.

Lithium Coin

Historically, in the small cell arena, silver oxide batteries have been king. These tiny batteries are often found in watches and other small electronics. However, in 2015, the evolution of electronic products for the home has spurred huge growth in the lithium coin market.

INTO 2016: the lithium coin market will continue to grow, as its use expands from just car key fobs and watches into many children’s toys, battery-operated candles and healthcare devices such as pedometers, thermometers, scales, and more. With an increasing demand for these tiny batteries, it will become important for consumers to recognize which is the right one for their products. Since they come in such a vast array of shapes and sizes, we expect to see a greater number of customers inquiring with experts on the right lithium coin battery for their particular needs.

What an exciting year it has been and what an exceptionally bright (and energized) future to behold! Visit your local Batteries Plus Bulbs in 2016 to stay connected with the nation’s largest and fastest-growing battery, light bulb and smartphone/tablet repair franchise.

Company Info

Batteries Plus Bulbs, founded in 1988 and headquartered in Hartland, WI, is a leading omni-channel retailer of batteries, light bulbs and smartphone repair services for the direct-to-consumer and commercial channels.Through a nationwide network of stores, the Company offers a differentiated value proposition of unrivaled product selection, in-stock availability and customer service.

Batteries Plus Bulbs is owned by Freeman Spogli, a private equity firm based in Los Angeles and New York City. To learn more about one of Forbes® Top 10 Best Franchises in America for the past three years, visit Batteries Plus Bulbs Franchise